Effective IP address management is an overall business process issue. The growing network complexity associated with connecting mobile users to a number of disparate resources quickly becomes an enormous IT burden from a workload and cost standpoint. There is a need to make it possible for IT departments to provide high levels of service, rapidly deploy new services, and continue to maintain existing systems, with flat or decreasing budgets and headcount.
In particular, the administration of DNS (Domain Name System) and DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) servers as well as the secure and dynamic management of IP address has become a priority. Further, IP environment administration concerns multiple activities within the IT department and requires extensive IT resources. It implies defining multiple profiles in order to do the job while preserving security and confidentiality. Typically, IP administration tasks are handled manually and can take staffers an average of several weeks per year to complete. So, there is a need for eliminating tedious and time-consuming manual tasks.
To face these needs, IP management software products have been developed such as VitalQIP® of Lucent Technologies™ and IPm™ of Efficient IP™. These software products are run on a server connected to the IP network and make it possible to consolidate all IP address information of the network in a single database and to support DHCP and DNS servers.
However, a drawback of these products is due to the fact that the implementation thereof in existing networks already comprising DNS and DHCP servers is tedious and expensive because they require the replacement of the existing DNS and DHCP software products with specific DNS and DHCP software able to communicate via the network with the IP management software.